Module 4 - Lecture 1

Question 1

Define public services. (Broadbent and Guthrie, 2008)

Answer 1

Public services are those activities which are enshrined within the notion of public good or service based on universality of access for the citizenry rather than the private provision through a market

Question 2

What is New Public Management?

Answer 2

This is the introduction of private sector management techniques into the public sector

Question 3

Give an example of public management reform in the UK.

Answer 3

The UK House of Common’s Public Administration Select committee’s report titled - On target? Government by Measurement - focused on performance measures at the expense of performance

Question 4

What is austerity?

Answer 4

A period of contemporary public spending cuts

Question 5

What are the effects of NPM on austerity?

Answer 5

Shifting the focus from expenditure cuts to the pursuit of efficiency and value-for-money